Cuddles
by ladybug114
Summary: 4 times Scott and Stiles accidentally cuddled, and the 1 time they did it on purpose. For a Scott/Stiles Secret Santa on tumblr.


**A/N: Hey all. I know I haven't posted anything in a few months, and I'm very sorry for that, but life has been chaotic. I'm a high school senior, so I have a lot of college stuff to be thinking about! But I have been writing, and I've actually posted a few things on AO3 that aren't on here (link in my bio).**

 **More writing to come from me, but in the meantime, I participated in a Sciles Secret Santa exchange on tumblr (link to my tumblr in my bio too) and this is what I wrote for that! Thought you guys might want to read it.**

 **1.**

When Scott woke up, he was warm. His half-asleep brain registered that the warmth was coming from his left side, so he snuggled closer to it.

But then the warm spot mumbled something.

Instantly, Scott was wide awake.

"But… I'm Batman…"

Scott had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing as he realized that it was just Stiles, dreaming about something. His eyes started to close again, and he got comfortable, his stomach almost touching Stiles' back.

Wait.

"Shit," Scott whispered, eyes snapping open as he pushed away from Stiles. What was he doing? Stiles was his best friend. _Just_ his best friend. He had almost just spooned with his best friend. What was wrong with him? He didn't have feelings for Stiles… did he?

No. No, that would be way too weird. He definitely did _not_ want to cuddle with Stiles. Nope. Not at all.

Scott rolled over with a groan, facing away from Stiles. He had a feeling this was just going to get a lot more complicated.

 **2.**

"What do you want to watch next?" Stiles asked a few weeks later, when they were at Stiles' house watching Netflix.

"Dude, it's 1 in the morning," Scott responded with a yawn. "You seriously want to start another movie?"

Stiles rolled his eyes. "You're getting old, Scott. We used to stay up a lot later than this."

That was true, of course, but that didn't mean Scott wanted to stay up late every single time they hung out. After a moment, though, he just sighed and responded, "Yeah, alright. Let's watch another movie."

Stiles grinned at him, and Scott felt his heart jump. What was wrong with him lately? They were just watching a movie together, they had done that thousands of times before. Nothing to get excited or nervous about. Just a movie.

Stiles chose some old action movie, and an hour into it, he was fast asleep. Scott was pretty close to falling asleep himself, and then Stiles' head drooped onto his shoulder.

Scott froze.

If anyone walked in, they would think that Stiles had purposefully fallen asleep on Scott's shoulder. They probably looked like a couple, with a laptop in front of them and…

They looked like a couple. And, somehow, Scott found himself enjoying that thought.

It was in that moment, sitting on the couch, a crappy movie in front of him, Stiles' head resting on his shoulder, that Scott admitted to himself a fact that had been true for a long time.

He was in love with his best friend.

And while he wanted to enjoy the feeling of practically cuddling with Stiles for a little longer, he knew it wouldn't be right. After all, Stiles didn't feel the same way about him. And he was _asleep_ , for goodness sake. So, reluctantly, Scott nudged him awake.

"Dude," he said, as Stiles slowly opened his eyes and sat up, "If you're that tired, we can go to bed."

 **3.**

After that night, Scott started trying to avoid Stiles. He knew that there was no way Stiles liked him back, so he'd just have to learn to cover up his feelings somehow. Simple, right?

At first, it was. He would see Stiles at school, but only when some of their other friends were around. It was easier to ignore his feelings then. If Stiles wanted to hang out, Scott would say he was busy. It was all working out really well.

Until Stiles noticed.

He approached Scott in the parking lot after school, grabbing his arm before he could get away. "Dude," Stiles said, staring at Scott, "why are you avoiding me?"

Scott's heart was pounding, and he realized how glad he was that Stiles wasn't a werewolf. "Um, I'm not avoiding you," Scott said in response, trying not to blush.

Stiles just rolled his eyes. "Come on," he said, "I may not be a werewolf, but I'm not stupid either. You've been avoiding me."

Stiles was still staring at him, and Scott couldn't keep eye contact anymore, his eyes skittering away from Stiles' face.

Stiles sighed, seeming to realize that something was actually wrong. "Come on," he said after a moment, "Let's go for a drive."

"Alright," Scott gave in, "Let's go for a drive."

They rode in silence for a few minutes, Scott staring at his lap and Stiles glancing at him every few seconds. Finally, Stiles pulled into an empty lot and shut the jeep off.

Scott glanced at him. "Dude," he said, "It's freezing out. You sure you wanna turn the heat off?"

Stiles just shrugged, locking eyes with Scott again. "What's going on?" he asked, voice quiet. "Did… Did I do something?"

"No!" Scott answered quickly. "No, you didn't do anything."

Stiles sighed, and opened the door to the jeep, stepping out into the cold air. Scott followed him, and they sat together on the curb, staring at the empty road in front of him. They didn't speak, and after a few minutes, Stiles started to shiver.

Scott looked at him in concern. "We should go back to the jeep," he said, "It's too cold out here for you."

Stiles shook his head, still staring straight ahead. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what's actually going on."

"I…" Scott started, and then he froze, gaze dropping to the pavement. He couldn't say it. He couldn't.

Stiles shivered again, and Scott noticed him move a little closer. Scott turned away, pretending not to notice, until Stiles' leg was touching his.

"You sure you're not too cold?" Scott asked, his voice quiet and hesitant.

"Uh, yeah," Stiles responded, not moving away. "Are you?"

"No. Special werewolf powers, remember?"

Stiles huffed out a laugh, leaning into Scott a bit more as he did so. "Yeah," he said quietly, "Stupid werewolf powers."

Scott couldn't take it anymore. He shifted away from Stiles and got to his feet, not looking at Stiles. "Um. We should head home," he said awkwardly.

"Yeah," Stiles responded, glancing up at Scott but not standing yet. "So… There's nothing you have to tell me?"

"No," Scott said forcefully. "Nothing."

"Right. Okay." Stiles pushed himself to his feet, heading toward the jeep without looking at Scott.

Scott followed silently, wondering if his avoidance technique was making things better or worse.

 **4.**

Sometimes, they decided to do normal things. Just hang out, the five of them, not worrying about werewolves or hunters or anything. Sometimes, they decided to just be teenagers for a while- to just be Scott, to just be Stiles, to just be Allison, to just be Lydia, to just be Isaac.

Sure, maybe the things they did were a bit childish, but Scott wouldn't trade the nights they spent together for anything. None of them had had perfect childhoods by any means, and they had each missed out on something, and they tried to get that back sometimes. They would get together and back cookies, or play games, or watch Disney movies, and just enjoy each other's company.

And when things got awkward between Stiles and Scott, Lydia was the one to notice and call for an "emergency pack bonding session."

"We haven't hung out together in _ages_ ," she said one day, while they were all sitting together at lunch. "I expect to see all of you at my house at 7 tonight."

Allison and Isaac laughed, but Scott and Stiles glanced at each other awkwardly. They hadn't had a real conversation since the day in the jeep, and Scott wasn't eager to start one. Well, he figured he could just talk to Allison or Lydia or Isaac instead. Simple.

Of course, his plans hadn't been working out very well lately.

"Alright," Isaac asked that night, when they were all standing in Lydia's kitchen, "I'll bite. What are we doing, Lydia?"

Lydia grinned. "Have you ever heard of the game sardines?"

Scott didn't know what she was talking about, and Allison and Isaac looked confused too, but Stiles groaned. "Seriously, Lydia?" Stiles asked. "That's your brilliant idea?"

"Oh come on Stiles," she responded, "It will be fun. Since you know how to play, why don't you go hide? I'll explain to the others."

"Fine," Stiles muttered, already walking out of the kitchen, presumably to find a place to hide.

"So… what's going on?" Allison asked.

"It's pretty simple," Lydia said, "Stiles will hide, and we each look for him. Separately. If you find him, you have to join him in his hiding space. Eventually, we'll all be crammed in together, and the last person to find everyone else loses."

"So like hide-and-seek," Isaac said, rolling his eyes. "Sounds like fun."

Lydia glanced at Allison, and Scott was pretty sure they were having some sort of telepathic conversation, because after a moment Allison grinned. "I think that's a great idea, Lydia. Think Stiles had enough time to hide?"

"He better hope so," Lydia responded with a smirk. "Alright guys, go!"

With that, they all dashed off in different directions. Even though they were going through an awkward time, Scott was proud to say that he knew Stiles better than anyone. He knew how Stiles' brain worked, so he was pretty sure he could win this. Stiles was clever. Clever enough to know that everyone knows that he's clever.

So. Somewhere simple, so obvious that no one would ever guess it.

"A closet," Scott whispered to himself with a grin, positive that he was right. But which one? Not Lydia's closet, even Stiles wouldn't dare go in there. Maybe in the bathroom?

Scott sprinted up the stairs, not seeing Allison or Lydia or Isaac on the way. Where were they? Well, it didn't matter, because Scott was going to win this. He stepped into the bathroom and grabbed the closet door, pulling it open quickly. There, sitting on the floor, was Stiles, staring up at him sheepishly.

"Am I really that predictable?" he asked with a grin.

Scott laughed. "To me you are," he said easily, any awkwardness temporarily forgotten.

Then Stiles' grinned slipped slightly. "Uh, now you have to hide with me until the others find us," he said, still looking up at Scott.

"Right," Scott agreed, and he lowered himself onto the floor next to Stiles and pulled the door closed. It was dark and cramped, and their knees were touching.

"So how'd you know where to look?" Stiles whispered after a moment.

Scott smiled, knowing that Stiles wouldn't be able to see it. "You're smart, and everyone knows that. So they'll be expecting you to hide in a super complicated place. But you're also smart enough to know _that_ , so I figured you would pick a simple spot. No one would expect you to hide in a closet. That's the most obvious hiding place ever."

Stiles was silent for a moment, before responding, "No one except for you."

Scott froze. "Yeah," he said, "Except for me."

Silence fell again, and Scott and Stiles sat in the dark, their legs pressed against each other, close enough to hear each other breathing.

"Um," Stiles said after a few minutes, breaking the silence, "I've been wanting to tell you…"

Before he had a chance to finish, the door burst open and light flooded into the space, revealing Lydia standing in front of them. She frowned as she saw Scott already sitting there. "I thought for sure I'd be first," she said, still looking at them. "Well," she added, "At least I'm not last."

She sat down on the floor, wedged between Stiles and the wall, and pulled the door shut again, forcing Scott and Stiles to be even closer together than before. "Hope the others find us soon," Scott said, trying to shift into a more comfortable position.

"Why?" Lydia asked brightly. "Aren't you having fun?"

"Sure, Lydia," Stiles said, and Scott could practically hear him rolling his eyes. "We're having a blast."

 **5.**

They played a few more rounds that night, but then Allison said she had to go home and study, and Isaac went with her. So Scott and Stiles said goodnight to Lydia, and stepped out into the night.

"You said you had something to tell me," Scott said before Stiles climbed into the jeep.

Stiles swallowed. He looked… nervous? Why would he be nervous? "You ran here, right?" he asked, glancing at Scott but not making direct eye contact.

"Yeah," Scott responded, for once not the one looking away.

Stiles took a deep breath, and then said, "You wanna come over? It's a Friday night, my dad's not home, we could just… hang out?"

"And you could tell me what you wanted to say," Scott added.

Stiles glanced at him again, and then looked away. "Uh, yeah," he said quietly.

"Alright," Scott agreed, "Let's go to your house."

The ride was silent, but not as awkward as the last time they were in the jeep together. They definitely needed to talk about something, Scott wasn't sure what, but they were okay.

They sat on the couch together, Stiles' laptop open in front of them, and Scott remembered the last time they had done this. The day when Scott had admitted to himself why he was starting to feel so awkward around Stiles. But this time, there was no movie on. The screen was black, and Stiles was staring at it, picking at his fingernails.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Scott asked quietly after a moment.

"Yeah," Stiles said, looking up at him, "But maybe not this."

Scott frowned. What was going on? "Stiles, please," he said, looking his best friend in the eye, "Tell me what's going on."

Stiles took in a shaky breath. "Might be easier to show you," he said finally.

"Okay," Scott agreed, staring at him in confusion. "Show me."

With another deep breath, Stiles sat straight up, looked Scott in the eye, and leaned forward.

Their lips met.

Instantly, Scott's world exploded. Stiles was kissing him. _Stiles was kissing him_.

But then Stiles pulled away. "Shit," he muttered, "Shit, shit, shit, that was a horrible idea wasn't it, oh my god, I'm so sorry, I just ruined everything didn't I, I'm so sorry, I just…"

Scott just laughed and leaned forward, and their lips met again. This time Scott was the one to pull away, and Stiles was staring at him in shock.

"I thought, I mean, I thought…" Stiles stuttered, "I didn't think you would actually…"

Scott grinned at him. "Stiles, do you remember the last time we were at your house, watching that movie, and you fell asleep on me?"

"Uh, yeah," Stiles responded, still in shock.

"Well, that was the night I realized I was in love with you. But I was _so sure_ that you didn't feel the same way, that's why I've been so distant lately. Because I thought I was going to ruin everything."

Stiles stared at him for a moment, and then burst out laughing. "Well, we're just a mess, aren't we? I've been trying to spend _more_ time with you, and you kept pushing me away, so I was sure you didn't feel the same way I did."

"Well," Scott said, feeling happier than he had in a long time, "Do you wanna watch a movie?"

Stiles grinned at him. "Yeah," he agreed, "Let's watch a movie."

Less than twenty minutes into the movie, Stiles' head was resting on Scott's shoulder. Less than an hour after that, and they were curled up together on the couch. They fell asleep like that, curled in each other's arms, finally comfortable and finally happy.


End file.
